Women's Ice Hockey Continues to Climb the USCHO.com Poll, Earning Highest Ranking in Program History at No. 7

HAMDEN, Conn. – The Bobcats continue their trend upwards as the women's ice hockey team is ranked No. 7 nationally in the USCHO.com Women's D-1 weekly poll, their highest ever ranking in program history. After sticking in the No. 9 spot for consecutive weeks, the Bobcats jumped up 27 points all the way to 55 in the weekly voting announced on Monday, Nov. 4. Starting the season with their best record in program history (7-1-2), the No. 7 Bobcats will carry this wave of momentum into ECAC Hockey showdowns with Brown and Yale this weekend.

USCHO.com Division I Women's Weekly Poll (Nov. 4, 2013)

Rank

Team

First Place Votes

Record

Points

Previous Week

1

Minnesota

(15)

10-0-0

150

1

2

Wisconsin

8-2-0

134

2

3

Cornell

5-0-1

115

3

4

North Dakota

8-1-1

107

4

5

Boston College

7-2-0

81

6

6

Clarkson

7-2-2

80

5

7

Quinnipiac

7-1-2

55

9

8

Harvard

3-1-0

43

7

9

Mercyhurst

5-3-1

32

8

10

Boston Univ.

6-1-1

15

NR

Others receiving votes: Ohio State 7, Robert Morris 5, Syracuse 1.

Quinnipiac moved up the most of any team in the nation from last week as they passed ECAC Hockey foe Harvard, who slipped to No. 8 in the rankings. No. 1 Minnesota maintained their ranking with a weekend sweep at Minnesota State to move their NCAA record winning streak up to 59 games. No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 3 Cornell and No. 4 North Dakota stood their ground in the poll while No. 5 Boston College leapt No. 6 Clarkson. The Crimson fell to No. 8 after falling to Rensselaer on Friday while No. 9 Mercyhurst and No. 10 Boston Univ. round out the Top 10.

The move up in the rankings for the Bobcats comes off the heels of an undefeated weekend in which they shutout Colgate, 6-0, on Friday and tied the No. 3 Big Red, 1-1, on Saturday from High Point Solutions Arena. Each member of the Bobcats' top offensive line lit the lamp once while a pair of sophomore defenders each scored their first career goal. Cydney Roesler (Stittsville, Ontario) and Kristen Tamberg (North Toronto, Ontario) waited 44 games before finally breaking through as each tallied a goal in the third period. Meanwhile, the top offensive line of senior Kelly Babstock (Mississauga, Ontario), sophomore Nicole Connery (Newmarket, Ontario) and freshman Emma Woods (Burford, Ontario) combined for nine points (three goals, six assists) against Colgate.

In the weekend finale against No. 3 Cornell, the Bobcats saw a shorthanded tally from junior Shiann Darkangelo (Brighton, Mich.) and a great night from junior goalie Chelsea Laden (26 saves) in net to preserve a 1-1 tie. Darkangelo's goal on the penalty kill in the second period was ever first ever shorthanded goal of 28 career tallies. Laden allowed just one goal and it was on a penalty shot from Emily Fulton that barely squeaked through five-hole that tied the score with eight minutes remaining. The Bobcat defense was stellar all evening as they limited the nation's highest-scoring offense to just that one penalty shot goal through 65 minutes of action.

No. 7 Quinnipiac will hope to continue their winning ways this weekend with a trip to Brown on Friday at 7 pm followed by a skate against Yale on Saturday at 4 pm from Ingalls Rink.